


Switch

by moonandstar



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Angst, Arthur Finds Out, Body Swap, F/M, Gen, M/M, Magic Reveal, Other, canon AU, morgana is not evil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-01
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2018-08-18 22:05:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 9,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8177779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonandstar/pseuds/moonandstar
Summary: Due to a potions error, Merlin ends up in the body of a prince who just so happens to have a jousting tournament and Arthur in the body of a servant who just so happens to have magic.





	1. I

"Merlin, I'm really not sure it's meant to be that colour" Gaius was peering sceptically between the large book he held and the potion Merlin was frantically stirring.

  
"It has to be! I followed all of the instructions in the book. This needs to be right, we need this potion for Uther's jousting tournament on Thursday- you know how all of those knights get injured"

  
Gaius winced. "I still think we should have stuck to the old recipe"

  
"But this one is meant to be more effective! Plus it looks a lot more like medicine than magic..." Merlin cut off as the potion started to bubble.

  
"Merlin, as you well know we can't have anyone finding out that we used magic to brew this potion or Uther will have our heads. We need to fix it!" Gaius started flicking through the book in his hands.

  
The potion started to smoke and crackle.

  
"How?!" Merlin almost yelled

  
"I don't know!" Gaius looked fearfully into the cauldron, "I've never seen anything like that before"

  
"What should I do?"

  
"Keep stirring. I'll go and find another book"

  
Gaius ran up the stairs with remarkable agility for a man of his age. Merlin kept stirring the potion, wishing it would calm down until he heard those oh so familiar footsteps that almost stopped his heart.

  
Within a second of Arthur opening the door to the chambers, Merlin had jumped in front of the cauldron with his arms folded, trying to look casual.

  
Arthur stopped dead in the doorway and wrinkled his nose. "Is something _burning?"_

  
"Um.. well you see, it was just an idea of, well, err-"

  
While Merlin was trying to think of a plausible explanation which wouldn't involve magic in any way, the potion was rapidly rising out of the pot. The last thing he heard was a shout before the potion drenched the two of them and everything went dark.

 

When Merlin opened his eyes, it was nightfall. He wasn't on the floor anymore, he had been moved to the medical bed in the spare room. What happened?

  
He'd gotten splattered with the potion, that was all. But then why did he feel so weird? He couldn't see anything in the dark, and since the light was broken in here, decided to go and creep out to find Gaius and ask him what happened. If he had to, he would make the potion again, because knowing Gaius, he would probably blame Merlin for tripping over the cauldron or something equally as stupid.

  
As he crept along the floor silently, he felt different. Perhaps the potion had affected his legs because he wasn't walking like usual. He opened the door into the main room, where Gaius had cleaned up the potion and saw him sitting at the table, reading the large spells and potions manual it had taken Merlin about a year to read.

  
Merlin stepped out and was getting ready to rush down the steps.However, before he had the chance to go down, Gaius had leapt to his feet and practically threw the book under the table- probably didn't want Merlin knowing it was taking him longer to read than it took Merlin.

  
"Sire! Are you alright? I'm not entirely sure what happened- think you must have hit your head on something".

  
Merlin stared at him gobsmacked before realising it was a joke. He sat down at the table and laughed.

  
"Good one, Gaius. What's the status on the potion? For all I know, it was spilt everywhere. Do I need to make another?"

  
God, what had happened to his voice? He really shouldn't sleep for so long.

  
Gaius' face had paled upon the word 'potion' and now he looked up at Merlin almost fearfully, "Potion? No, your grace, I'm not quite following. Perhaps you hit your head harder than we thought."

  
"Gaius, please. It's only me! I haven't lost my memory or anything. Of course I remember the potion"

  
"But sire, there was no potion. There are no magic users in Camelot!"

  
Merlin looked at him baffled. He really does have a funny sense of humour sometimes.

  
"What? Stop joking around! Isn't it obvious that you and I are magic users?"

  
If Gaius looked pale before, he was ashen now. He almost fell off his chair.

  
"You? You're a magic user?"

  
Merlin frowned. "Yes. How could you have forgotten? Are you alright?"

  
Gaius just stared at him openmouthed. "Does the King know?"

  
"Of course he doesn't know! You know this, Gaius" 

  
"But-but sire"

  
"Gaius, please can you stop with these strange terms of endearment? I know you get sick of shouting my name all day but really, _sire?"_

  
"What else would I call you? If there's another term you'd prefer, naturally I would be more than happy to..."

  
"What else would you call me? Well, Merlin obviously"

  
"Merlin? Why on earth would I want to call you Merlin? Are you quite sure you're alright?"

  
Merlin looked at Gaius, full of confusion. "I'm not following. Is this a game?"

  
"Of course not, umm- Merlin"

  
"Okay, so. The potion?"

  
"Forgive me for asking.. Merlin, but how do you know about the potion?"

  
"Well, I was the one who made it"

  
"No-"

  
"- Remember? And I dropped the pan and you said 'quit messing about, Merlin' and then I fell over that massive book we had on the floor and you-"

  
"Merlin?"

  
"Yes?"

  
" _Merlin!_ "

  
Merlin sighed. He really was too tired for this. "Yes. I'm sure I haven't forgotten my own name"

  
"You're not Arthur?"

  
"What? Gaius, you're not well-"

  
Gaius didn't reply, and with tight lips, reached into the drawer and handed Merlin a mirror.  
Merlin looked into the mirror and saw in all its glory, the face of Arthur bloody Pendragon, Crown Prince of Camelot staring back at him. There was nothing left to do now. He threw down the mirror, shattering the glass and screamed.


	2. II

"Arthur!" Merlin shouted, running into the chambers where Arthur, of course, was asleep.  
Full of adrenaline and with no bucket of water to spare, he decided to hit Arthur in the face to wake him.

  
Sure enough, he woke within the second. "Merlin! If you ever do that again, I swear I will have your head for-"

  
He opened his eyes properly, looked up at Merlin in the doorway and his brow creased for just a fraction of a second before he jumped out of the bed, reaching for a sword where, naturally, there wasn't one. Instead, he settled for using his finger to point threateningly at Merlin.

  
"Who the _hell_ are-"

  
Merlin jumped in quickly, leaning away. "Arthur! It's me. Merlin. The potion we spilt yesterday, remember? I mean- not like I know where it came from or anything, we certainly didn't brew it, probably just got it from someone in the lower town... or from anywhere... maybe even here... accidentally, of course"

  
Seeing Arthur's sceptical look, he continued "it was one of those body-swap potions. I know they're illegal, I mean we definitely didn't brew it. Why would I want to turn out like you?"

  
To this, Arthur said nothing, his face a mask of pure disbelief. He strode out of the room towards Gaius, letting the door slam behind him. Merlin was left alone.

Half an hour later, Merlin, deciding the coast was now clear as there had been no screaming matches yet and he hadn't been sentenced to death for brewing a highly illegal potion, tiptoed down the stairs as quietly as he could in pointed and bucked boots.  
Arthur was pacing and mumbling under his breath. Merlin caught words like 'stupid', 'idiot' and of course 'clotpole'.

  
"What's the verdict? Did you find out if there's an antidote?" Merlin asked, sitting down next to Gaius.

  
Gaius looked grave. "Oh there's an antidote. But it's at the other end of the five kingdoms"

  
"That'll take about a week of travel, even on the horses. There's no way we would be able to do it, not before Thursday's joust. We have no chance of getting it before then" Arthur chimed in, always the optimist.

  
"Can't you send the Knights?" Merlin wondered.

  
Arthur just shot him a look from across the room. "They're all away on the training grounds until Wednesday. I don't understand how on earth you haven't realised that"

  
"There's no alternative then. If you can't send the Knights you'll have to miss the joust, surely?" Gaius asked

  
Arthur finally slumped down into an armchair. "Miss the joust? My father would kill me. It's all about honour and tradition. There's no way I could miss it. The entire kingdom would call me a coward. Missing the joust isn't an option"

  
"Well. Doesn't it seem obvious? We'll have to go and get the antidote on Friday. You know, after the joust" Merlin said

  
" _after_ the joust?" Arthur had stood up again

  
"Yes- I mean we can't go before because we can't miss it, and we can't send anyone else so really it'll have to be Friday" Merlin replied calmly, idly twirling the ring on his left index finger.

  
The movement caught Arthur's eye and Merlin stopped. Arthur was still looking at him coldly. "Once again, as usual, Merlin, even when you aren't in your own body you don't understand. If we go after the joust, then you'll have to fight!"

  
"I know. I don't mind, I mean we can't have the entire kingdom shunning you for not taking part"

  
Arthur sighed heavily. "I can't let you do this"

  
"I have to"

  
"But- you don't even know how to joust. You'll hur- embarrass yourself. Me."

  
"Well what else do you suggest I do?"

  
Arthur was silent for a minute and then sat down, tiredly rubbing at his temples. "I'll teach you. I'll teach you all that I know, the training of a knight. But first-"

  
"First?"

  
"First, so you can pass off as me, I'll have to teach you how to be a prince"

 

Merlin was exhausted and it was only just 9am. Arthur had taught him everything from manners to dressing and still hadn't stopped.

  
"If anyone asks you anything about policy, just say you don't know. Don't accept any plans for anything. God help us if you manage to agree to a war"

  
"Yes. I know"

  
"Try not to talk to my father or to Morgana about me. They'll know straight away that you aren't who you say you are"

  
Merlin didn't doubt that for a second.

  
"Can I talk to Gwen?" he asked.

  
Arthur sighed heavily. "Maybe. But only if you have to. No one can find out about this swap or my father will punish you for the illegal potion" he stopped before adding hastily "I'm not saying it was you who brewed it or anything but you know how he is"

  
"Too well"

  
"So are we sorted? Try to act as much as possible like me as you can, just go to breakfast and then come back here and we'll start training. You teach me how to be like you and I'll teach you how to fight in return"

  
"Okay. No problem. I'm sure everything will work out" Merlin started walking towards the door.

  
"And Merlin?"

  
He paused. "Yes?"

  
"Don't mess this up"

 

Merlin had watched Arthur at breakfast for years but was regretting not paying more attention to the conversation. He had to keep telling himself to act natural. In the wise words of Gaius: 'act natural and everything will be fine'.

  
"Crap!" Merlin had just walked into a pillar. He rubbed at his forehead where he was sure there would be a mark, already feeling Arthur's disapproval.

  
Making sure nobody was around to see his mishap, he hurried into the hall, straightening his jacket and trying to look confident.

  
"Morning, Arthur!" Morgana said cheerily from where she was already waiting for him.

  
"M-morning" Merlin replied.

  
She looked at him sceptically, and as she tilted her head, pure fear gripped him, that was, until she spoke.

  
"What happened to your face? You've got a massive bruise on your head"

  
As if he hadn't realised.

  
"Fell" he lied

  
Merlin figured that giving short answers would avoid suspicion. Sure enough, Morgana just nodded sympathetically, probably knowing all too well of Arthur's inability to string together two words early in the morning.

  
At that moment, Uther came in, greeted them and they all sat down for breakfast, the servants rushing in and filling the serving trays.

  
"So. Arthur. What did you think of what George said last night?" Uther asked casually.

  
Merlin wished he had listened more when Arthur complained about boring meetings.

  
"Oh- well, you know. Very insightful" he bluffed

  
"Indeed"

  
Uther was just _staring_ at him. The bloody King of Camelot was making small talk with a sorcerer over the breakfast table. Merlin almost wanted to laugh. If only Uther had known, then Merlin probably would've been on his way to be executed right now.

  
"And of the-" Uther lowered his voice, looking sideways at the serving maids. "Other announcement"

  
"S-sorry?" Was this some kind of twisted who-can-be-the-vaguest person ever competition?

  
"Please don't tell me you've forgotten already, Arthur. I was relying on you for this matter"

  
Merlin was aware of both Morgana's and Uther's eyes burning into him.

  
"No, no! I didn't forget! I'm perfectly aware"

  
"But what did you think of it? Your opinion is vital in this case"

  
"Umm, well, as a matter of fact-" Merlin practically threw his fork across the floor like a javelin. "Oops, I dropped my fork! Best go and- you know, pick it up. Like I always do"

  
As he rose from his chair, he was aware that Uther was looking at him suspiciously.

  
"Arthur. Sit. Somebody will take care of it" he said calmly.

  
Merlin bit his lip. "You see, the thing is, I've kind of gotten into the habit of picking things up in my chambers. I just like to do it myself and give Merlin a break, as really, one person can only do so much! In all honesty, I think all of the servants should get more holiday time as well- gives me more time to, umm, pick things up"

  
"If this is your way of telling me that you want to get rid of your manservant then you know I'd be more than happy to-"

  
"No! I mean, thank you, sire, but I couldn't"

  
Uther just nodded, a tiny bit suspiciously, and turned to Morgana, subjecting her to his line of questioning. He seemed to have forgotten about the 'Other Announcement' for the time being. Merlin finally was able to breathe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys think this one is going well!  
> have to get through the boring stuff first before getting to the main plot (sorry!) :)  
> next chapter should be up pretty soon too
> 
> thank you for reading and leaving kudos, means a lot


	3. III

"Gaius- sleeping potion. I need some" Arthur said briskly. 

Gaius tilted his head sceptically. It was strange to hear Arthur's quick tone in Merlin's voice. 

"Why?" He pressed.

"Gaius! It's me, you can't ask me questions" 

"I can indeed, sire, for I am concerned about your health" 

"Please, I just-"

Arthur couldn't figure out what to say. He needed the sleeping potion to knock Merlin out for long enough that he could joust in Merlin's place. He knew perfectly well that Merlin would never win and he decided to use sleeping potion because- well- he didn't want to knock Merlin out by any means which could damage himself, because of the stupid body swap situation. If Merlin was in his own body then Arthur would have been perfectly content to hit him over the head with a pan. Multiple times. 

"Arthur!" Gaius ran towards the door at the sound of footsteps running. 

Arthur threw open the door to the sight of his father supporting a weak Lancelot. 

"Lancelot! What happened, sire?" Gaius exclaimed as Lancelot was carefully laid down on the table. 

Arthur, undetected in the chaos, quickly bent down and slipped a sleeping potion in his pocket before straightening up with a handful of gauze. 

"I'm alright, I think I've broken my ribs though. Just the ribs" Lancelot replied. 

"He came back from the training ground. I don't blame him, injured like that, he wouldn't stand a chance. Sir Lancelot, you just stay here and rest. I'm sorry to say you'll be missing the joust" Uther said. 

"The sorrow is mine, your majesty" Lancelot winced. 

"Gaius will have you on the mend in no time. Ah- Merlin, is it?" Uther asked

Arthur jumped. "Y-yes" 

"Merlin, do you have any idea where Arthur is? Since you two seem to be joined at the hip recently" 

If only his father knew the truth of his words. Arthur opened his mouth to speak just as Merlin came barrelling through the doors at top speed. Running. In the corridors. Arthur didn't know if he was going to survive this swap without throttling Merlin. Merlin stopped dead upon seeing Lancelot covered in blood. 

"Oh, f-" 

"Arthur!" Arthur yelled loudly. "You're here!" 

"Well. Arthur. I just wanted to remind you to keep thinking about that project we've got going on. I'll be expecting some opinions." Uther said. "Gentlemen. Sir Lancelot- get well soon. I better be off"

"What in the world happened? Is he going to be okay?" Merlin rounded on Gaius. 

"He can talk just fine, Merlin. But yes, thank you. It's just a few broken ribs, I'm sure Gaius will patch them up in no time" Lancelot replied. 

"That's great to hear. Gaius, can I have a word?" Merlin asked.

"Yes, of course, Arthur."

Merlin shut the door to his chambers behind him and turned anxious eyes to Gaius. "I can't do magic. I tried and I tried and I can't do it! That's where I've been all this time, I've been trying to light stupid fires and switch on lights and I can't do anything. I won't even be able to take some of the pain away from Lancelot's ribs" 

Gaius looked shocked. "Merlin, I did expect something like this to happen but I really hoped it wouldn't. This means that Arthur-" 

"It means that Arthur's going to find out about the magic." 

X

Merlin kept to himself for the next two days, avoiding Arthur's questions and ignoring his concerned glances. He kept as far away from Uther and Morgana as he could because it was now Tuesday and the mere mention of the joust on Thursday was making him feel sick now he knew that he didn't have magic to get through it. 

"Is Arthur still training you?" Gaius asked in an undertone as he folded towels in a cupboard. 

Merlin had jumped in the cupboard for a quick word with Gaius, but he didn't want to seem suspicious so he had put the hood up on his robes. 

"Yeah. I'm not making much progress. He took me out on the horses this morning and we used one of the practice dummys. We had to go far out into the woods to avoid anyone seeing us, I mean even Sir Lancelot would find out the truth if he saw me fighting as badly as I am, he would realise in an instant that I'm not Arthur." 

"Merlin- just be careful. The rest of the knights are back from training tomorrow and if you think that Sir Lancelot is observant then wait until you talk to the others. I remember them training with Arthur when they were just young boys." 

Merlin sighed. "I'm a mess" 

"You're not a mess! Listen to me, you're going to be just fine, you can do this, do the joust for him and everything will be alright. We'll get the antidote immediately after. We can set off on Friday, remember you do have the power to make decisions now" 

"Gaius, who are you talking to?" came an unmistakeable voice from the corridor. 

Merlin winced as the king opened the cupboard door and stared in bemusement at who he thought was his son. 

"Arthur! Why are you in the cupboard? Are you folding towels?" 

"No! No, sire- I was just, umm-" 

Uther rubbed at his temples in irritation. "Listen, Arthur. I don't know what's gotten into you lately. You insist on doing servant chores, you avoid your own servant, you avoid me, you're walking around the castle in a hooded robe-" he sighed and the fight seemed to drain from him. "You're worried about something. It's either the joust or the Announcement project, isn't it?" 

Merlin didn't know what to do, so he settled for nodding awkwardly. Wasn't lying to a king some kind of treason? He felt sick. 

"Just the joust" he whispered. 

"Gaius, excuse us" Uther said, grabbing Merlin's arm and leading him down the corridor. 

Gaius bowed his head and continued folding the towels.

"W-where are we going?" Merlin asked.

"I've got a task for you which will take your mind off the joust- although I don't know why you're worried about it. You've never fared badly in the past" 

"I guess I've just got a lot on my plate at the moment" 

Uther looked at him. "Indeed." 

Merlin realised that they were walking past Arthur's chambers and looked in to see Arthur completely ignoring the mop and bucket Merlin had left for him and staring out of the window. Typical. 

"-and your manservant? How is he doing?" Uther asked. 

Merlin got the impression that the king didn't really know what to say to his own son. It was quite sad. 

"Oh, Merlin? He's doing great. I'm probably going to promote him!" he replied. 

"Yes, yes. Anyway, the reason I brought you out here today was because I need you to do a task for me. Do you recall section 36 of the project proposal document?" 

Merlin braced himself for a second before letting the lie slip out. "Yes. I do, sire" 

"Splendid. Now, Sir Lancelot is up and walking about so I took it upon myself to confide in him as I needed a second opinion in the matter. I don't have the time myself today but if you could find him and go through it as it does concern the knights, that would be fantastic" 

"...Yes" 

Uther thanked him before clapping him on the back as he walked away. Merlin felt like sinking into the floor. What had he gotten himself into? 

After walking for over ten minutes around the grounds trying to find Lancelot in the hope that Lancelot could explain the project proposal a bit, he finally heard muffled voices coming from an alcove nearby. He paused and shifted into the shadows slightly so he could listen. 

"We shouldn't be doing this!" the female voice whispered, "we'll be killed if we're caught, you of all people should understand that." 

Wait... was that _Gwen?_

"It's alright. We won't get caught. If we do, I'll tell them it was all my fault. I just missed you so much when I was away" 

_Lancelot?_

"Oh, Lancelot. I missed you too!" 

"I love you" he whispered. 

"I love you too" came Gwen's reply. 

Merlin edged forward to look. They were kissing. Gwen and Lancelot were kissing! He broke out into a run and didn't stop until he had reached Arthur's chambers. Oh god. No. _Arthur_. This was going to shatter him.


	4. IV

The knights all came back on Wednesday evening, ready for the annual joust the next morning. Arthur was pretending to carry out Merlin's tasks at the time, although usually Merlin ended up doing it anyway. Arthur tended to go out and secretly train. Merlin was just better at cleaning, much as Arthur hated admitting to his weaknesses. Arthur had a cloth held up to the windowsill but he wasn't polishing. He was watching Merlin greet the knights jealously. Merlin had mentioned the possibility of pretending to be ill but Arthur wasn't fond of the idea. He insisted Merlin go out and have fun with the knights so that nothing would seem amiss. Plus, all of this time Arthur had on his hands these days was giving him the opportunity to plan out how exactly to work out his plan for the joust. 

X 

Both Merlin and Arthur slept terribly on Wednesday night, the night before the joust. Arthur had taken to pacing the corridors while trying not to wake Gaius. He knew he was betraying Merlin's trust by planning on drugging him against his will and had been feeling incredibly guilty about the secret training sessions he had been having in preparation for the joust. He kept telling himself that he was doing it for Merlin's own good and that was all that mattered. Arthur Pendragon was never one to admit that he was afraid but he was definitely afraid now, terrified of what would happen if he couldn't joust well enough as Merlin and someone found out their secret. 

Merlin was used to sleeping badly in Arthur's unnecessarily expensive room but on this Wednesday he felt terrible. The image of Lancelot and Gwen kissing was burnt into the back of his eyelids and he didn't know how he was going to tell Arthur. Arthur would probably execute Lancelot out of rage and then sulk for months. Merlin wanted to go and give both of them a piece of his mind. Gwen knew perfectly well how much Arthur liked her. Merlin fell asleep that night lost in thought about this unusual love triangle, confused as to why it bothered him so much, and it thankfully pushed any thoughts of the joust straight out of his mind. 

"Merlin! Dollophead! Wake up" Arthur yelled. Arthur hated having to be the one to get Merlin up. 

"What time is it?" Merlin groaned. 

"Half six" 

"Why have you gotten me up so bloody early?" 

"It's joust day, _sire_ " 

That got Merlin's attention. He jumped out of bed, knocked over a vase and stumbled across the room. 

"Where's my armour?" he asked. 

"Technically it's mine but yes you can borrow it. Just for today. If there's a scratch on it I'll put you in the stocks" Arthur replied easily. 

"Arthur! You need to start taking this seriously" 

"I am, but you're freaking out. Maybe you're taking it a bit too seriously. Listen, I've done many jousts and what you need to do is calm down beforehand or you'll just mess it up from the nerves" 

"Calm down? Are you kidding? Your reputation is at stake here" 

"I know, I know. I'm weeping for my reputation. Here. Drink this. It'll help with the nerves" Arthur handed Merlin the cup full of juice he had spiked earlier on. 

"Thanks" Merlin shrugged and took a sip from the cup before collapsing to the floor. Arthur caught him before he hit the ground. 

"W-what?" 

"I'm sorry, Merlin. I really am. I'm doing this for your own good and safety, I promise you" Arthur whispered as he moved Merlin onto the bed before quickly retreating from the room and locking the door behind him. 

X 

By the time Arthur put the armour on and made his way down to the joust, surrounded by his knights, his best friends, he finally felt like himself for the first time since the switch. Sitting on a horse with a lance in his hand made him feel powerful again. He felt like a prince again. He had missed the horses, the banter of the knights and the clattering of swords. He had missed being himself. 

"May I present to you all- Prince Arthur!" 

Arthur rode out happily and confidently into the crowd. Despite not exactly looking or sounding like himself right now, no one was going to know under the armour. He didn't even know what the foreign knight he was jousting looked like. Arthur was also really pleased that his father had let him join in with the tournament, because usually it was 'too dangerous' but this tournament was especially important for his reputation and Uther couldn't have his only son looking cowardly in front of the foreign delegates. 

Arthur jumped up onto his horse and waved at the crowd. Morgana was smiling at him along with his father, Gwen, Lance and the other knights. He was home. His opponent, a knight from another kingdom, was gearing up now. He was riding towards Arthur, lance outstretched. Although guilt kept stabbing Arthur in little pinpricks, he knew that Merlin couldn't have done this. Arthur was in the wrong- but it was for a good reason. 

"Close call there!" the commentator exclaimed.

The crowd gasped and Arthur jerked back away from the oncoming lance with a second to spare, thanking any and all gods that existed for his reflexes. He really needed to stop thinking about Merlin. His mind seemed to be on a Merlin fast track these days. 

"Pull yourself together, Arthur Pendragon" Arthur whispered to himself as he took position to charge. "You can do this". 

He was so ready. He was born ready. He had never been so ready for anything in his life. Arthur wouldn't let Camelot down, not now, not ever. Not even when he was Merlin for the week. 

"Go!" the commentator yelled.

The trumpets blew and Arthur, knowing he had the dominant position, leaned out towards his opponent during the initial charge and lightly clipped him. The crowd roared. 

"Another spectacular play from Prince Arthur, but really, did we expect anything else? Now up- Sir Percival!" 

Arthur grinned and shook hands with his opponent before jumping lightly off the horse and wheeling around to face his audience. 

"Congratulations!" Lancelot exclaimed, reaching out to shake Arthur's hand and only wincing a little from his injuries. 

"Thank you" 

"Arthur, what the hell is going on with your voice? Are you ill? I haven’t seen you in ages” Morgana said.

"Lovely to see you too, Morgana. Sorry it's been a while, I've been pretty busy lately- oh, slight cold, you know- I don't suppose you've seen Gaius around?" 

"He's in his chambers, Arthur, I went to see him to get my bandages redressed this morning" Lancelot chimed in. 

"Right, that's great, thanks. I guess I'll have to leave all this ceremony and go see Gaius" Arthur said, "send my father my wishes" 

"Fantastic. See you at dinner" Morgana said, before turning on her heel back into the cheering crowd.

Gwen looked quickly at Lancelot before turning to Arthur again. 

"I'll walk you part of the way if you want- I'm going to Morgana's chambers which is on the way to Gaius'- if you wanted the company" she said quickly, as if she had been practicing what to say the whole time.

"Of course" Arthur shrugged. "Nice to see you, Lancelot. Enjoy watching the jousting" 

Lancelot gave a weary smile and turned to face the crowd. 

"Shall I take your helmet? I can forward it on to Merlin if you like" Gwen offered.

"No, Gwen, it's fine. Thank you. I'm heading that way anyway" Arthur was not taking the helmet off, even if it killed him. 

"Oh okay then. I haven't seen Merlin in a long time"

"Yes, I'm sorry about that. He's had a lot of work to do, I'll try let him out for a few hours when all of this quietens down" 

Gwen smiled. Arthur thought it was a beautiful- yet nervous- smile. 

"Do you remember when we had that- thing- going on?" she asked quietly, changing the subject. 

"Of course. Those were some of the best weeks of my life" 

Gwen wondered if it could be possible for her to feel any more guilty. Was this some form of sick treason? 

"M-me too. I just, I had something I need to confess" 

Arthur felt the first blast of worry hit him right then. "What happened?"

"It was when Lancelot came back, everything seemed to change. After you left Gaius' chambers, I met with Lancelot because he needed help walking back but then we had a talk and one thing just led to a-"

Gwen cut off as a strangled yell came from Arthur's rooms they were passing. A yell which sounded an awful lot like "I'm going to kill that bloody dollophead!"

"Who was that?" she asked, backing away. 

Arthur looked towards the door where he knew perfectly well Merlin had just woken up and figured it out, all thoughts of Gwen's confession evaporating from his head. "I'll go and find out. Gwen, you go on to Morgana's, it may not be... safe" 

Arthur left, walking cautiously into his rooms. Gwen sighed from where she had been left alone in the corridor before turning and moving up away from Arthur and towards Morgana's chambers, guilt weighing down on her like heavy armour. 


	5. V

Arthur took a deep breath before turning the door handle. He looked back quickly just to make sure Gwen was safely on her way to Morgana's before he opened the door to the inevitable. Sure enough, Merlin was standing in the middle of the room, waiting. 

"What did you do, Arthur?" he asked calmly, only a slight tremor in his voice. 

"I-" 

"Did you seriously _drug_ me?!" 

"Now, when you put it that way, well, it sounds like a pretty shit thing to do, but hear me out, Merlin-" 

"Was Gaius in on this? Did you blow our cover?" 

"No and no. I won the tournament for us" 

"Well _congratulations_ , I'm glad you got what you wanted. I put so much work into training for that and it was all for nothing. I can't believe you" 

"You're being so bloody stubborn right now! If I hadn't given you a simple sleeping potion-" 

"Was it even safe?! What if something had happened to me?" 

"Don't worry, it wasn't poisoned or anything, I tested it on myself before I used it on you" 

If Arthur thought that would calm Merlin down, he had another thing coming. "You tested it on yourself?! What if it was poisoned and you died? I would have to be stuck as you forever! We'd never get that antidote" 

Arthur held his hands out to Merlin, "Look, calm down. We're okay. We won the joust, our cover wasn't blown. If you had done the joust, you probably would have been seriously injured. I did what I did for your own good" 

"You're absolutely ridiculous. You could have asked" 

"And would you have let me?" 

Merlin frowned. 

"You're acting like such a child about this" Arthur said, "try see it from my point of view. I was just trying to protect you! Maybe next time I shouldn't bother"

"I don't care! I just want to be myself again, I'm sick to death of this" 

"Me too! Can't you see that we're both frustrated here? It's just obstacle after bloody obstacle, and it doesn't help that you're so stubborn" 

"It doesn't help that you're knocking me out against my will" 

"Oh my _god!_ " Arthur huffed and threw a glass at the wall, where it promptly smashed. 

"Why the hell did you do that?!" Merlin jumped about a mile. 

"I don't know! I feel weird! Feels like something's going to burst out of me. Anger, I suppose" 

Merlin stopped. Magic. Oh no. He had to get out of here. He had to speak to Gaius. He glared at Arthur and stormed out of the room, hoping that Arthur would assume his hands were shaking from anger rather than fear. To reassert this, he shouted back to Arthur, who was loitering in the doorway. 

"I thought you were meant to be my best friend! How could you do this to me?" he yelled, before swinging round and seeing Morgana and Gwen. Oh no. How much did they hear? 

"Wait!" Arthur called, wincing as he brushed the glass on the floor. 

Merlin didn't want to hear any more explanations. He turned on his heel and practically ran to Gaius. 

X

"Gwen, what's the matter?" Morgana rushed in, a flurry of pink robes and flowery perfume, putting her arm around the girl who was crying on the bed. 

"I've done something really bad" she whispered shakily. 

Morgana frowned. "You?" 

"Y-yes!" 

"What did you do? It might help to talk about it" 

"I can't tell you all of the details but I cheated on a man I love with _the_ man I love" 

"You cheated on my brother?" Morgana seemed to freeze for a second before collecting herself and continuing to play with strands of her hair. "Does Arthur know? Is that why he's been acting so strange recently?" 

Gwen looked at her in shocked horror. "No! No. I tried to tell him before but he got caught up- I'm going to tell him soon, I promise! H-how did you know I was talking about him?" 

Morgana laughed. "Isn't it obvious? You'd have to be walking around with your eyes shut to miss how much you like him. I saw you two making eye contact and looking away, tapping each other's feet under the table, secret smirks as you went past each other in the corridors..." 

"Am I in trouble?" Gwen whispered. 

"God no! Uther doesn't know, don't worry. I think I'm the only one. So- do you want to kiss and make up with my brother or do you want to ditch him? I'd ditch him if I were you, but then again, he's my brother and I have to say that" she twinkled. 

"I don't know" Gwen bit her lip. "I don't want to hurt him, but I'm in love with another man" 

Morgana opened her mouth but then closed it and whipped around as she heard the sound of a glass smashing against a wall along the corridor. Gwen looked at her, brow furrowed and eyes red. 

"Come on. Let's see what's going on" Morgana held her hand out to Gwen and the two women slowly made their way down the corridor towards the room where they could hear raised voices. Arthur's room. 

"Of course" Morgana looked at the shards of broken glass on the ground and rolled her eyes. 

"Is he okay?" Gwen asked. 

Morgana raised an eyebrow. "Typical Pendragon explosion" 

Just then, Gwen watched as Arthur left the room, furious. "I thought you were meant to be my best friend! How could you do this to me?" 

He paled upon seeing the two girls, and turned around to speak to them until Merlin stepped forward, glass crunching beneath him. "Wait!" 

Arthur didn't listen. He glared at Merlin and stormed off into the main wing of the castle. Gwen and Morgana looked at each other helplessly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a short one, the main magic reveal plot line will be starting in the immediate chapters after this one, I just needed to get this out of the way. Many thanks for reading up to this point!


	6. VI

Emotionally, Merlin had never felt so drained in his entire life. He ran anxiously to find Gaius, knowing he shouldn't have left Arthur but also knowing that he desperately needed help.

"Gaius! Gaius! It's me, I need you" he yelled. 

"Merlin! What's the matter?" Gaius came into the room and sat Merlin down. 

"It's that bloody Arthur Pendragon again!" 

Gaius didn't look at all surprised and merely nodded for Merlin to continue. 

"He won the joust" 

"Yes..." 

"He did it. I was meant to do it. Gaius, he gave me sleeping potion" 

Gaius sighed heavily. "I should have known. He asked me for some. I should have guessed he would do something like this- the measures he'd go to to protect you" 

"What?" 

"From his point of view, he would be guilty as he knows he shouldn't have done it, but it was his only choice. You would've been mauled by the knights- I'm sorry to say it" 

"Well he could've asked me!" 

"And would you have let him?" 

Merlin shut up for half a minute before almost jumping out of his seat. "Oh, forget the ethics! He's going to figure out my secret. He was angry and- and upset I guess, and he said that he felt weird. It's magic, I know it is. He's going to _kill_ me when he finds out" 

Gaius' face paled. "Are you sure? Oh Merlin. For the sake of your life, get over your stubbornness, tell Arthur to get over his and make friends! Emotion triggers uncontrolled magic. You need to keep him as emotionless as humanly possible and then all we need to do is find that antidote!" 

"I'm on it!" 

Merlin was sprinting back up the corridor towards Arthur's rooms before Gaius had even had the chance to say goodbye. 

X 

"Merlin!" 

"Arthur!" 

They bumped into each other in the middle of the corridor outside of the hall, both rushing in different directions. 

"I apologise. I now realise how much of a prat I've been. I cleaned up the glass, I've done everything I can. It's hard for me to say this, but- I'm sorry" Arthur said. 

"I'm still mad at you" 

"And you have the right to be" 

"Listen, I just- I wanted to tell you that I'm sorry as well. I spoke to Gaius and he made a few things clear to me. We shouldn't fight. Not when we're in this state. We need to work together to get that antidote" _and to keep you calm._

Arthur smiled and held out his hand. "Truce?" 

"Truce" 

They shook hands and then broke apart, awkwardly. Merlin looked down at the floor. Arthur coughed. 

"I wanted to ask you-" 

"I need to tell you-" 

They both spoke at the same time. 

"You go. Mine wasn't important" Arthur said. 

"Thanks. I just had something I need to tell you... is anyone around?" 

Arthur swept the perimeter. "Doesn't look like it. What's the matter?" 

Little did Arthur know, Uther Pendragon had just returned from a hunting trip and was curious. His son had been acting so strangely recently and he needed to find out why. He had just came through the doors and had noticed Arthur and his manservant talking. Rather than disturbing Arthur, sure the discussion wouldn't last long, he positioned himself behind a suit of armour to wait- keeping himself within hearing distance. 

Merlin took a deep breath. "I-I saw something the other night. I'm so sorry I have to be the one to tell you this, but I thought you ought to know- it's about Gwen" 

Uther's eyes brightened. So the manservant must be in love with the maid! 

"Gwen?" 

"I... I saw Gwen. Kissing Sir Lancelot. She's in love with him. I'm sorry. I couldn't find an appropriate time to tell you until now and I just can't keep it a secret any longer. If we're doing a truce I need to come clean" 

Arthur seemed to stutter without saying a word. He paled dramatically and Merlin could just about see the cogs whirring in his head. 

"Are you-" Merlin anxiously stepped forward to take Arthur's arm when suddenly Arthur stopped and stared at his own hand, as if he had never seen it before. Something inside of Merlin snapped, and an instinct told him to _get out_. He took a nervous step, feeling like his spine was coiling up.  
Arthur looked up. He met Merlin's eyes, his own tearful, and then it happened. The magic spilled out. Golden sparks rocketed out of Arthur's hands, beams of green light hitting metal plates and bouncing across the entrance. Merlin's blood turned to liquid fire and the world continued in slow motion despite his heart rate rocketing. 

"Get away from my son!" Uther yelled, drawing his sword and placing it to his own son's neck. 

Merlin was crying openly. He met Arthur's eyes for a fraction of a second before having to look away at the pure hatred, betrayal and confusion there. The worst thing was that Arthur was scared. Merlin had never seen Arthur afraid in this way before; not even before jousts, during raids or mid-battle. Arthur was always entirely in control. He was always the strong one. Yet now Merlin could see his hands shaking and eyes pleading. Merlin pinched himself, refusing to believe that he was awake. This had to be a dream. It had to be a nightmare. 

Arthur was staring into his father's eyes, knowing he couldn't plead his way out of this, knowing Uther would never believe the switch story. 

"You. You've been - like this- the whole time. With my son" Uther spat. 

"P-please" Arthur flinched and the tip of the blade caught the side of his neck, blood trickling slowly into his collar. 

"No pleas. No trial. You are to be executed within the week" 

Uther removed the sword and grabbed Arthur, dragging him down towards the dungeons. Arthur looked back over his shoulder, directly at Merlin. 

"I'll fix it!" Merlin mouthed frantically. 

"I'll fix it. I'll fix it. I'll fix it" he waited until Arthur had rounded the corner before collapsing to the ground and wondering how in the hell he was going to get out of this mess alive.


	7. VII

“If you get the antidote yourself, you can get it to Arthur and you’ll get the magic back, magic yourself out of the cell” Gaius said. 

Merlin sniffed. “Arthur couldn’t do it. His control is completely out” 

The plan was in motion. Merlin had ran to Gaius and they had decided that he would pretend to be Arthur and go with the knights to get the antidote. He had pleaded desperately with the king to spare Arthur and let him out of the dungeons, maybe just put him in the stocks, but the king was firm on his decision. Merlin left his chambers in tears, and ignored the kind words of the knights, especially Sir Lancelot. That was how Merlin ended up in Arthur’s armour, outside of the dungeons the following morning.

“I’m going to get it now, it’s going to be alright” Merlin said, not knowing if he was talking more to himself or to Arthur. 

“You’re not supposed to be here. You’ve gotten me into more than enough trouble already. I don’t want to see you ever again” Arthur replied, voice steady and cold. 

“You’d rather I didn’t get the antidote and let your own father kill you?” 

“I’d rather you just left me alone! My God, you’re such a clotpole sometimes”

“I’m doing all that I can. I’m not going to let him kill you” 

“Let him! I don’t care” 

“You may not care. But I do” 

With one last lingering look, Merlin swept out of the dungeons. 

Arthur listened to the sound of Merlin’s footsteps in his heavy armour until they disappeared and then he let the mask fall and sagged down to the ground, keeping his position of staring hopelessly at the wall and keeping as still as a statue in fear that any more magic could escape. 

He hated Merlin for betraying him. He hated Merlin so much, but he hated himself most of all. How could he have lived with a traitor for so long? Arthur felt like his emotions had been crushed by all of the stable horses at once, his father had drilled it into him that all magic users were disgusting heretics but Merlin wasn’t like that. Surely if he was he wouldn’t be risking everything to save Arthur’s life. Arthur sighed. Everything had suddenly became so much more complicated. 

X 

“Are you sure we’re going the right way?” Gwaine asked hesitantly.

Merlin had taken Gwaine, Percival and Leon with him and he didn’t much fancy talking to any of them, only telling them that he was going to retrieve something ‘very important for the kingdom’s foreign policy’. 

“Yes!” he snapped, pulling his horse in the other direction. 

He caught Percival and Leon exchanging a look but ignored them. 6 days. He could do this. 

They set up camp on the outskirts of the kingdom, Percival making an automatic fire and the others standing by as if they were waiting for orders. Merlin just wanted to curl up and sleep forever. He wondered how Arthur was doing without his posh food and overly extravagant bed. How Arthur was doing alone and betrayed in that cell. 

“Are you okay?” Percival asked, sitting down on the log beside Merlin.

“I’m fine” he rested his chin on his hands.

“You’ve been acting strangely for ages. We’ve hardly seen you” 

“I’ve been really busy, sorry about that. Dealing with finances”

“You hate dealing with finances! You always complain to us every time you have to do them” 

“Sometimes” Merlin shrugged.

Leon was cooking over the fire and turned to join the conversation. “Whatever it is, you can talk to us” 

“Thank you. I’ll bear that in mind” 

Merlin was really starting to panic when two more days passed without finding anything. The knights were even more suspicious, and the days were growing darker and fainter. On the night of the fourth day, Merlin flung himself down on the ground and stared into the flames of the fire. 

“We ride home tomorrow. It’s an impossible task” he said weakly. 

Leon looked up, raising his eyebrows. “Are you quite sure? We only need a few more days”

“There aren’t a few more days! I’m running out of bloody time! We’re all screwed. I don’t want to do this anymore, I can’t” 

“Arthur! Stop it. The Arthur I know would never let something like this stop him” Leon said. 

“I’m not Arthur. At least not the one you know. Arthur’s going to die” Merlin cried.

Instinctively, the three knights moved and within a blink of an eye, Merlin had triple swords to the neck. 

“Who are you? What have you done to him?” Gwaine said threateningly. 

“I’m Merlin and I’m so so sorry”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick update for the holidays!  
> Hope you’re all well, thank you for reading and fingers crossed we should get the story done in 2018!
> 
> (I’m still 50-50 on a happy or a sad ending! What do you guys think?)


	8. VIII

On the first night, Gwen came to visit. Arthur scowled at her through the bars. 

“Merlin, I need to tell you something. I’m really worried, and you’re probably going to hate me” Gwen started. 

“Hang on. Why are you here? Why aren’t you afraid of me?” Arthur asked, so surprised that he forgot that he wasn’t supposed to be on good terms with Gwen. 

“Afraid of you? Merlin, it wasn’t your fault! I’ve known you for years and you’ve never hurt anyone. I’m working with Morgana, we’re going to develop a plan to get you out of here. She agrees that it isn’t right for you to be convicted since you would never hurt anyone, let alone Arthur” 

Arthur frowned. “But-“

“I don’t want to get your hopes up though so I’m not going to tell you. What I came to see you about, well, it kind of involves Sir Lancelot and my-“ 

Arthur clenched a fist. “Don’t talk about it. I don’t want to know”. _I don’t want to hear it again._

“Merlin, I-“

“Just go” 

So she went, leaving Arthur alone with his thoughts.

_Merlin please_  
_Please_  
_Come back for me_  
_Merlin_  
_Merlin_  
_I’m not going to be saved_  
_Am I not worthy of being saved?_  


_stuck here with my thoughts all day im going insane  
_

X

Merlin had to give the knights credit, as he was still kept at sword-point after his confession. He sat down by the campfire and explained the entire story, editing out certain parts such as the obvious _magic_ and the Lancelot situation. 

“Right... so then why are you claiming that Arthur is to be executed?” Percival asked, raising a sceptical eyebrow. 

Merlin twisted his hands together anxiously. “That’s one part I can’t explain, and I hope that you can respect that” 

The knights backed down a little, lowering the swords- although nobody put theirs away. 

“What do you need us to do?” Gwaine asked.

“We need to save Arthur. Don’t worry about the details, they’ll come eventually. Let’s go save Arthur’s life” Merlin replied.

Merlin wasn’t sure whether the knights truly believed him or whether they just thought he had gone mental and wanted to get the mission over with as quickly as possible. He had walked into the clearing once or twice since his confession and all conversation had suddenly stopped. He knew the power was in his hands though, and had the advantage of knowing that the knights were ridiculously loyal and would do anything in their power to bring Arthur back. Merlin would do the same, even though these days he wasn’t sure where Arthur ended and he began. 

“Here. We’ll take shelter” he called over his shoulder, leading the knights into an abandoned shack. 

Leon chuckled. “I think I do really believe you aren’t Arthur. Either that or you’ve had a personality bypass operation. Arthur would never have stopped here, it’s too exposed” 

Looking back, Merlin saw that the house was pretty exposed. “What do you say we do instead?” 

“Well, it’s only a bit of rain. There’s no point stopping yet” 

Merlin bit his lip. “Okay. Clearly the three of you know a hell of a lot more about military things than I do. We’re trying to find a plant to save his life”

“A plant? How on earth will a plant save him from the blade?” Gwaine asked. 

The _stake._

“It just will. Just trust me if you want him alive for that masquerade ball next week” 

“We trust you. Tell us about the plant and we’ll make the plans to get it” Percival said. “Have we got a time limit?” 

“Ideally we need to find it and start heading back as soon as possible. We’ve only got a few days to save him. The date for the execution hasn’t yet been fixed. Probably should try to be back in Camelot tomorrow or the following day”

“What if we can’t find the plant by then?” Leon looked scared for the first time. 

“If we don’t find it then I’m riding back to Camelot and breaking him out of that dungeon with my bare hands” Merlin sounded so fierce that the knights didn’t argue.

“Tell us about the plant and we’ll find it. I promise you that much” Percival said quietly. 

X

Uther Pendragon was pacing in front of his fireplace. 

“I’m not surprised Arthur went away with the knights. Ideally he should be as far away from that vile heretic as possible” he said. 

“At least we’ve found the problem before he got hurt” Morgana replied hesitantly.

Uther smiled. “That makes me wonder why that Merlin was biding his time. Was he waiting for Arthur at his weakest, I wonder?”

“Have you questioned Gaius?” she asked. 

“I did alert him to the issue. He seemed pretty upset and I didn’t want to further that so I have left it for now. Rest assured that I would trust Gaius with my life. He would never meddle in matters of magic, he hates it just as I do. If Gaius had known, why, that Merlin would have been out on the streets before he could raise a hand against my son!” 

“We do have the issue of other magic users in the area” Morgana said. 

Uther looked at her proudly. She would have made a fantastic queen. 

“Yes...well, a public execution should be enough of a deterrent to deal with that problem” he seemed thrilled at the prospect. 

Morgana sighed. She always hated it when people were executed. 

“You don’t have to be there” Uther said, voice gentle. 

The hand on her shoulder told another story. 

“I’ll be there. I’ll be brave. Since Arthur can’t be there”

“Arthur will be there”

“But he’s not even in Camelot” 

“Once he’s back. Once he’s back I’ll schedule the execution- a complete surprise. Arthur’s going to watch and he’s going to see the consequences of magic. I’ll say he’s never going to slack in his duties again” 

Uther kissed her cheek and departed, his guards following. Morgana felt puzzled. 

“Gwen?” she called. 

“My lady?” 

“Has he gone?” Morgana whispered. 

“All clear” 

“Okay. So about that plan to rescue Merlin-“ 

Arthur’s return would be announced, but Morgana was having her own ladies stationed in the next town to alert her before Uther. She told him that the ladies were going to collect sewing material. Morgana and Gwen had then joined forces with Merlin’s friends from Ealdor, and on signal, they would enter for “embroidery”. She had also bribed the palace guards for the following week to turn a blind eye, and knew they were loyal. As Uther would greet Arthur, the court would follow. Gwen was fantastic at lock picking, and she would get Merlin out. Morgana would distract the others. Merlin would then escape through a secret door, into the woods and out of Camelot- perhaps even across the Channel. 

“But how will Arthur react?” Gwen chewed on her lip anxiously. 

“I don’t know. I’m assuming he will just be relieved Merlin is alive and away rather than dead in Camelot” 

“I hope so” 

“Shall we go and inform him of the plan?”

“We may as well, we shouldn’t be seen?”

“No. The king will be hunting now, I watched them leave” 

However, once the women had reached Merlin, they regretted ever going to visit.

“Please just speak to us” Morgana said after explaining the updated plan. “We’re risking our lives for you, it’s the least you can do. I know you’re upset but-“

Arthur swivelled around from the wall to his sister. “I have no issue with talking to _you_ ” his voice softened. “And I do appreciate it. Really” 

“We won’t let you die, Merlin” Gwen said.

Arthur had gotten so used to hearing that name that he couldn’t even distinguish it from his own. “No. I hope not. I have complete faith in you- and in Arthur, of course”

Morgana reached through the bars to squeeze one of his hands and Gwen the other. 

“I’ll pray for you. Every night” Gwen said. “We both will”

While still angry at her, Arthur was sharply reminded of the compassion which had made him fall in love with Gwen in the first place. 

“Thank you” he replied quietly. 

He didn’t have to say anything else, they understood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short but sweet 3am update for you all! Thank you so much for continuing to read the story.


End file.
